Is 'Fawlty Towers' the best British television comedy ever written? To mark its return to BBC1 tonight, John Cleese tells Andrew Davidson in a rare interview how Basil and Manuel were created and why he will never write about them again

Basil Chisholm Skinner, historian: born Edinburgh 7 November 1923; Director of Extra-Mural Studies, Edinburgh University 1966-79; married (two sons); died Edinburgh 5 April 1995.

Urban foxes are a pain. Who needs them?

William Scammell salutes the late great Basil Bunting mxczx xcvzx zxarbkjdnfikz nvkfzi zxfkgh kxl nvx;lfijiu;d

Today I bring you a complete novel, a mini-novel short enough for all businessman who simply don't have the time to read any novel longer than about six inches. It's what we call an interactive novel - in other words, you are the hero and whenever we come to an exciting bit, I give you four options for continuation and you must choose the right one before we go on.

Basil Hall was one of the finest Church historians in Britain. He pursued excellence, and the result was that for a man of his outstanding gifts and knowledge he published little - a book of essays, Protestants and Humanists, and a number of indi vidual essays and chapters in books. These are very fine and break new ground in a whole range of topics. He was asked to write a chapter on the history of the English Bible and was assured that it should only take him a couple of months. He spent more t han two years on it. It is definitive.

'I say, I say, I say, heard the one about the nice sitcom character who made you laugh? No? Funny that, neither have I'

Sir Bernard Chumley makes for a startling spectacle. Combining the jowled countenance of an obese nine-year-old with the attire and mannerisms of an elderly country squire, he holds forth with likely reminiscences of a life in the theatre; like the time he defecated over Felicity Kendal, and other dull old actorly tales you've heard again and again from such luminaries as Peter Ustinov. Mid- stream, he breaks out of character to bark some unintelligible abuse at himself, before lapsing back into raconteur mode with a dignified toss of his rug. Dorian Crook, meanwhile, specialises in the sort of intricate punning Basil Brush fans might appreciate. He was voted The Face's 'Hot Tip for 1994', presumably more for his natty dress sense than comedic ability. Still, Chumley's the chap; as cult as they come.

Much as I like the idea of fancy basils (cinnamon basil, lemon basil, purple basil et al), there are just two types that really matter in the kitchen.

How many people, when they plant hyssop, the aromatic perennial herb flowering now in blue, white and pink, really believe they are going to brew hyssop teas, distil hyssop oil, or marshal the local bees to produce hyssop honey? We just like the idea that one day we might. Having hyssop makes us feel comfortable. It reassures us that we have not entirely cut ourselves adrift from a long tradition of folk knowledge and thrifty housekeeping.

THE Museum of Garden History has arranged a day course on 'The Pot of Basil and the Summer Herb Garden' on 28 July (10am-3pm). Caroline Holmes is in charge, and tickets are available (pounds 40) from the museum at Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7LB (071-261 1891).

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So where has Haydn's setting of Psalm 26 been all this time? Well, at home with Basil and Noel Mary Williams, who would invite friends round to sing it in their living-room. Now at last, with the manuscript up for sale at Christie's on 29 June, scholars will be able to examine a treasure which was unknown for nearly 200 years. Inscriptions on the score show it to have been a gift from Haydn to Cecilia Maria Henslowe, daughter of the distinguished violinist Francois- Hippolyte Barthelemon, who emigrated to London and put Haydn up on both of his visits. The manuscript came into the possession of Mrs Williams, who died in 1988, after she had completed her course as a violinist at the Royal Manchester College of Music in the late 1930s. 'It was a gift from a great aunt,' says Basil Williams, a former Admiralty official. 'How it came to be with her we had no idea. Although we were keen choral singers, we never sang the Psalm in public.' Christie's hopes to raise at least pounds 15,000 from the sale, a large proportion of which will go towards creating an award in Mrs Williams' memory at the RNCM.

THERE'S something wrong with the whole system. Very good food is usually very expensive and the only people who can normally afford to eat it seem to be the people who are least likely to appreciate it: they are either overweight men with expense accounts, and judging by the colour of their cheeks, worrying digestive disorders. Or they are underweight women with much more worrying eating disorders.